Saturday, March 10, 2007

Rainbow Quiz - Identify the personality - Week 31Here is the next weekly "Rainbow" quiz , where I would be giving 7 clues (Hence the name Rainbow) about a personality. Try to discover the person in the least number of clues . You can either leave the answer as a comment / email me . Feedback/ suggestions welcome. Googling is not preferred but then its just for fun and so go ahead if you need to.

X is truly a visionary who believes that poverty can be eliminated by social action, public policy and technology. He leads by example with his research foundation.

clue # 1 : "X" was in Kumbakonam, TN (India) as the second of four sons. His father died when he was just 11.

clue # 2 : "X" was strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s belief in ahimsa to achieve Purna swaraj and swadeshi (self-reliance), on both a personal and national level. This led him to choose a career in agriculture.

clue # 3 : He earned his Ph.D degree from Cambridge and then accepted a post-doctoral research associateship in the US. Despite his strong personal and professional satisfaction with the research work in the US, he declined the offer of a full time faculty position there, because his purpose of getting an excellent foreign education was to equip himself for serving the cause of India.

clue # 4 : "X" played a crucial role in the food revolution and is known for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high yielding varieties of wheat in India.

clue # 5 : "X" is often referred to as the "Father of the Green Revolution" in India.He is widely respected for his effective advocacy of sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity.

clue # 6 : His wife is also an active social worker. His wife is especially interested in the empowerment of women in rural areas and education of underprivileged rural children. They set-up the first ever primary school for Irula children in Pichavaram (TN).

clue # 7 : "X" has received several national and international awards . He was one of three from India included in TIME Magazine's 1999 list of the "20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century", the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.